The Big Brother Games
by Peeto
Summary: In order for the Hunger Games to have even more of a show, tributes are forced to live in a house together. The Captiol enjoys seeing the dynamics of the kids mingling and it makes the time in the Arena seem that much more special. Every bit is televised and Peeta has to try everything he can in order to guarantee survival... and a good show! M for later chapters. Slash, Peeta/Cato
1. Just Wasn't Fair

_A/N: Hello, everyone! I've had this idea stuck in my head for a bit after reading a prompt elsewhere and I've decided to try it out. Let me know what you think about the overall plot because it's definitely going to keep me going! I don't need much motivation since Peeto's the best ship around, but you get me. ;) First chapter's a bit short just so I can get the swing of things. Trust me, things will pick up later on. Thanks for reading and enjoy!_

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Not even the train was free from the set of cameras honed in on the two of them.

Six hours ago Peeta was waking up to perform the same routine that he had for an untold amount of years: wake up, shower, count the bakery's inventory, load up new supplies, and start baking everything that would hopefully sell that day. Nothing was different than the day before other than the unsettling mood that had taken over once he had woken up that morning, knowing that the Reaping was soon to take place.

It just wasn't fair.

Trees and mountains flew past the windows of the train but all the baker could focus on was the brunette girl that was going into the Games with him. He was full of nothing but envy. Not for her, no; Peeta was jealous that Prim had someone that cared enough for her to volunteer and take her place instead. Katniss was gazing out of the window in that blue dress of hers, more than likely reflecting back on how she had screamed at the Peacekeepers or Prim's expression when her name was called.

All Peeta could think about was what he wanted written on his gravestone.

The train was headed into a special subdivision deep within the Capitol. Ever since the 50th annual Hunger Games took place, the Capitol decided that it would be best to usher each tribute into one house and televise their attempts to live with each other. It was typically a living nightmare for the boys and girls that were locked up in the house, but residents of the city got to watch how they mingled with each other. Friendships were bonded, relationships formed, enemies were made… Once the time came for the tributes to actually go into the arena, every kill came as a shock that much more due to the investment of the show.

Katniss continued to look out the window as her hand brushed her bangs to the side which caused Peeta to return to reality from his thought. Even though he was soon to be pitted against his district partner within the month, he figured the least he could do was actually talk to the girl and start to build some sort of trust. After all, there's strength in numbers, right?

However, as soon as he opened his mouth to speak a high-pitched squeal echoed throughout the train's corridor, "Aren't we excited, tributes?!"

Peeta looked up to see Effie Trinket in her bright pink attire with dolled up make up to accent the outfit and sighed. Katniss didn't exactly give her the most pleasant look, either.

The woman didn't seem to notice and motioned toward the window. "We're almost there, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen!"

His district partner glanced back out the window and Peeta followed suit just in time to see the elegant walls of the Capitol. Every possible color imaginable was somehow used in the beauty of the lights, buildings, advertisements and clothing and it all made the boy's mouth hang open from the sheer sight of everything. Effie didn't waste a beat to chuckle and continue her spiel.

"Now tributes, this is going to be the last time you see me for a month." She crooked an elbow and lifted a hand at head-level before snapping to get their attention back. "At the end of the month we'll start our training, but as for now you all get to enjoy the luxurious stay at the Capitol Manor. Remember the rules: no leaving the premises, no fighting, and have a blast!" A forced laugh rang out but Effie's face seemed genuine enough to make it work.

All Peeta could do was cringe.

Thankfully he still wasn't the only one to remain silent, so at least he and Katniss could bond over the fact that they didn't approve of Effie's mannerisms. Deep down he wished that he could talk to Katniss or someone - anyone - to take his mind off of the stress. It didn't help that there seemed to be a lump that was forming in the pit of his stomach even though it was going to be around a month or so until he was thrown into the Arena.

The train continued down its track and Peeta watched as the house came into view. He practically knew every square inch of the place since his district was forced to watch the show from beginning to end each year but actually seeing it in person blew his perception of the place out of the water. From the train he could make out the elegant fountain that was centered in the front lawn that cut each half of the grass symmetrically, overlooked by the balcony on the second floor that wrapped around the building. Although he couldn't see it, he knew that the balcony had a set of stairs on the other end of the house that led back down to ground level only to be met by a pool that took up the entire backyard.

Though very much a beautiful sight, it wasn't the home that was gathering his attention. Standing out front was a group of twenty-two other kids that were all lined up from the other eleven districts. Peeta could see another train disappearing into the horizon which meant that, unfortunately, District Twelve was the last to arrive. All eyes were going to be on him and Katniss the moment they stepped off the train.

Effie somehow managed to make the swelling in the pit of his stomach feel even worse as the train slowed down to a halt.

"Alright, tributes. See you in a month!"


	2. Home, Sweet Home

_A/N - Thank you all so much for the reviews and interest so far! I'm still keeping the short-chapter-streak going though it's allowing me to post more frequently until things start to pick up. Enjoy!_

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Before anything else could be said - even though the two tributes from District Twelve weren't keen on talking to Effie anyway - the colorful woman disappeared into another compartment of the train just as the locomotive began to slow to a halt. Peeta walked out of the sight of the row of windows after stealing a glance at the kids outside who had all simultaneously looked over at the new arrival.

"Can't wait."

The blonde boy glanced over at the voice that had broken the silence to see that Katniss had been the first to actually start a conversation between the two of them. She was looking at the exit door but considering that Peeta was the only other person in the room he knew the commentary was meant toward himself. However, what he _wasn't _sure about was whether or not the girl's interjection was meant as her faux-excitement to walk out or to see Effie at the end of the month.

Regardless his lips twisted up into a smile as a chuckle seeped out despite Katniss' vision being occupied elsewhere.

"Loud and clear," Peeta sarcastically added. Though they hadn't talked much he could at least say that they both had their home district and a sense of sarcasm to "bond" over. The pair still hadn't moved toward the door so the boy continued, "Ready?"

Katniss finally managed to look over at her district partner albeit with a vacant expression on her face. He figured once again that visions of the girl's younger sister were dancing wildly through her head and he made a mental point to offer some sort of consoling later on. After all, he had around a month or so and it seemed as though they were off to a decent start. It wasn't much of a start but one nonetheless.

"Yeah. Home, sweet home," she replied bleakly.

Before climbing aboard the train, Peeta was able to have a few last-minute sessions with a few random family members and friends. All were heartfelt - or painful - and it was still too soon to think back on them but one in particular stood out in his mind: the mayor's daughter. She had oddly been the last one to step into his meeting room and although their conversation was extremely brief the girl had handed over a necklace with a beautiful golden pendant that portrayed a bird in the center.

"It's a mockingjay," he had been instructed.

He had been thankful that someone was thoughtful enough to give him a token to take into the Arena even though he didn't personally know the Mayor or any of his family members. Confusion aside, the weight against his chest underneath the fabric of his t-shirt was strangely comforting as he led the way out of the train and into the house's gated courtyard. The majority of the kids had remained staring at the train but as soon as their feet hit the pavement Peeta could feel all sets of eyes glance back over toward them.

This was where the Games truly began.

Inevitably relationships were bound to form along the span of the month and the baker was already trying to find approachable people to talk to. He knew that one of the most important strategies was to find potential allies as quickly as possible. One girl, a redhead that strangely reminded him of a fox, had her head quirked to the side as she stood a bit away from the group. Another girl that was fair in color and couldn't have been over the age of thirteen was standing behind a much larger, dark-skinned male. Shivers ran down Peeta's spine; the burly guy was definitely not someone that he would want to face one-on-one with in the actual Games.

An uneasiness was starting to flow through him simply because he couldn't point out which of the group were the Careers and which weren't. He continued to shift his gaze until he noticed one other tribute, particularly another blonde. The smaller blonde's eyes drifted away as they made eye contact with the muscular boy and he waited a few seconds to scan the crowd before glancing back to look at the boy who was obviously a Career. He had been expecting the brutish figure to be scoping someone else out by then but the piercing blue eyes were fixated on his own.

Peeta looked away for good as soon as a booming voice echoed across the courtyard.

"Hello, tributes!"

All heads turned to see a blue-haired man stepping out from within their new home. The boy thought about using the opportunity to glance elsewhere but decided that he didn't even want to risk looking over to see if he was still being stared down.

Cameras were surely planted everywhere despite being unseen, so the man continued as if it were a television show with the kids as the audience, "I'm your host, Caesar Flickerman!" Only then did the boy notice that Caesar was flanked on either side by Peacekeepers. District Twelve had their fair share, but these two Peacekeepers were rough looking though with a bit more flair, presumably since they were for the Capitol.

Only a few kids actually cheered from the greeting yet Peeta continued to watch the man speak. Just two glances of the chilling set of eyes were enough to fill his desired quota for the next few minutes. He just didn't want to chance it.

"Sadly I have no challenges or activities planned for you today. This day is a designated free day and meant solely for you to wind down from the glorious train ride over here. Enjoy your new home! I would personally recommend the pool but if you're ready to dig in then you'll be delighted to see the stocked kitchen that's waiting inside." Caesar leaned in close as if he was telling the group of kids a secret, "And, my favorite part, a bar!"

Even more cheers erupted from the group. Peeta started to feel sick again. Before the "show" would be over only one tribute was going to remain standing yet a few of the kids had the audacity to be _excited_.

"You all know the rules. No fighting, no leaving the premises, and have fun!"

At least Caesar had managed to say the rules in an even more lively tone than Effie had.

"Be sure to get some rest tonight because tomorrow morning we're going to start off with an important message. Goodbye for now!"

The host made his way around the group with the two Peacekeepers following closely behind and exited through the gate before locking it behind them.

A beat of silence washed over the kids until one of the tributes called out, "You'll find me at the bar!"

Peeta rolled his eyes and looked over at Katniss. She had kept the same solemn expression on her face but she had seemed to be mesmerized. He followed her trail of vision and saw that it led to the younger girl that had hidden behind, assumably, her district partner as they both turned to walk inside. Though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he figured that there was some sort of connection with Katniss regarding her younger sister and the young girl.

"Prim, right?"

He didn't know where the outburst came from but it had just felt right for him to bring it up. Katniss whirled her head around with an almost shocked expression until it returned to normal.

"Yeah."

Peeta let her look back to watch the girl and his own vision started to stray off to once again soak in the crowd and weigh the competition… until his eyes landed on the muscular blonde again.

The worst part was that the other boy's blue eyes - even from halfway across the courtyard - were glaring back to look at him.


	3. Blind Leading the Blind

_A/N - It's late afternoon in the fic so this chapter's short to end the day. Chapters from now on are going to be covering a day or two within the timeframe now that the story's starting to roll just to set a good pace. As for me I'll be keeping this as consistent as possible. Thank you all for reading and reviewing - it's keeping me going! :)_

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Shivers were threatening to run down the boy's spine as he tore away from those blue eyes.

Instead he averted his gaze over to watch each tribute start to make their way into the house. Peeta couldn't vouch for all of them but he figured that there was a "might as well" attitude going on. The initial shock of being reaped for the Games had well wore off due to the long train ride but another uneasiness was beginning to wash over him while his own feet began to walk toward the front door. Relationships still weren't made and the blonde knew that the first day was always awkward - even to watch. Everyone usually kept to themselves until they were forced to communicate and interact during the first day's challenge.

Save for a few stragglers everyone was walking into their new home in pairs. He could only assume that the district partners each held an unspoken agreement to stick together. However, the baker proceeded by his lonesome and in front of Katniss. The two hadn't exactly had the best advantage to talk yet and it didn't help that the girl was presumably envisioning the small, dark haired girl as Prim nor did it help that Peeta had the other blonde's stare stuck in his mind.

Only briefly did he flick his eyes up to the front door and, thankfully, saw that the stranger was walking through the entrance without looking back.

Everyone eventually made their way inside yet not to much extent. A collective pool of the kids were awkwardly standing in the living area, waiting for someone to make the first call. It always worked as such in the first part of the show; it was a case of the blind leading the blind until they got to know each other.

"Get your asses in here!" All heads turned to see the source of the overly enthusiastic voice. The same boy that had called out that he was going to visit the bar was already toting some sort of a mixed drink in-hand while another hand thumbed back to the array of bottles.

A few of the tributes actually returned enthusiastic comments which, in turn, only further confused Peeta. Then again, drinking seemed like a decent alternative as a means to take the edge off of their entrapment. Regardless, his feet yet again carried him forward and alongside the group until they were all standing in the outskirts of the kitchen where the bar was located. He watched as a few expertly poured whatever their hearts desired while others were looking at the alcohol in an almost dumbfounded manner. Since drinking was a luxury in his district he wouldn't have even known where to begin so he decided to save his drink for later.

"Since you're all gonna be dead in a few days anyway, we might as well know the names of those who will join the fallen!" Peeta raised an eyebrow at the outlandish cockiness of the brunette that was inevitably a Career.

"What makes you think you're gonna live?"

It was the blonde that had looked at him.

"I just know it," the bar enthusiast continued. "Anyway, the name's Marvel."

Peeta looked over at the boy that had glared at him and watched as a smirk grew while he shook his head. "Cato," he said almost triumphantly.

"And my name that he's going to be screaming later is Glimmer." All eyes looked over at the girl that was already crossing normal communication barriers. "I call dibs tonight."

Cato's smirk grew wider and the overall arrogance in the room was beginning to make him sick.

"Clove." A short, dark-haired girl smugly saluted. "Since Cato's taken, I'll probably end up with this drunk guy," she stated while motioning to Marvel.

"And you'll love every minute of it," came the reply.

Groans echoed across the kitchen. A few of the tributes were already starting to walk off, rather quickly figuring out that they could move around instead of following the Careers around.

"But the best Career here is me," interjected a boy with a lean yet athletic body and blue eyes. He had black hair with a tussled look to it and if it weren't for the arrogance Peeta would have probably found him much more attractive. "You can call me Zale."

Everyone seemed eager to jump in front of each other and speak just to show how tough they were and the girl next to Zale was no exception. "And I'm Ryver, the _real_ best Career," said a younger girl before elegantly taking a sip of her drink. She looked oddly like her district partner save for a smaller frame and longer, black hair.

Even more of the crowd seemed to dissipate to either go talk or find something other than listen to kids brag as if it were obvious over who the winner was going to be. Marvel, after taking a long swig of whatever he had mixed in his glass, spotted Peeta and decided to break the brief second of silence. "What's the blonde midget's name?"

Although he couldn't see her the baker swore he heard a small gasp come from Katniss behind him.

"Excuse me?"

Marvel's eyebrows rose, shocked that someone decided to talk back no matter how calm it had been. "I asked for your name, sweetheart."

Careers were typically filterless throughout the show from both the way they were raised and to reel in even more views to please the audience, but after the series of events starting with being reaped Peeta's blood began to boil and the commentary wasn't helping. "Yeah, I heard that."

"Whoa, he's got a mouth on him," Clove interrupted with a laugh. She reached out to lightly push at Marvel's shoulder while she continued, "I wonder if he's good at using it?"

Day one and Peeta was already clenching his fists. He had made a mental promise to himself to not let the Games change him but the following month was sure to try its darnedest to try and do otherwise. While he opened his mouth up to speak a rather irritated girl's voice jumped in from behind him.

"Fuck off."

It was Glimmer's turn to take advantage of someone speaking up, "Wow, District Twelve has a lot of mouths. Not as good as mine, but still." She looked up at Cato with a growing smile while her hand travelled down to caress his arm that made him smirk back in return. Peeta couldn't fathom how in the world physical relationships were already forming but the Careers always managed to make relationships form throughout the entirety of the show.

"She's got a fiery attitude along with her mouth. I like that," said Clove.

Katniss scoffed and the blonde could hear her turn on her heels to storm out of the kitchen. Only then did he truly feel alone with the remainder of the Careers while he noticed that it was only the six arrogant kids and the two fair-skinned tributes.

"What about your name, tiny?" Peeta was glad that the attention had so quickly been diverted away from him and he shifted his gaze over to the larger man that had been referenced.

"Thresh," came a deep reply. He was obscuring the small girl behind him and the baker couldn't tell if Marvel just didn't see her or didn't care.

"Well, this was fun, but I think I remember Clove here talking about fucking a drunk guy."

Laughs from the Careers echoed throughout the kitchen and Peeta rolled his eyes. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists so hard so he shook the feeling off as he did what he should have done sooner and just left the kitchen along with everyone else. While he walked down the hallway he heard Glimmer say something about how she was ready to start having fun followed by a fit of giggles that only made him even more irritated. A sigh drifted out of his lips while he turned into the living quarters. After years of having to watch the show he was fairly comfortable with the layout of the house and when he approached the bedrooms Peeta looked along each door.

The Capitol, for whatever reason, shuffled up the rooms instead of following District orders. It created "diversity" and somewhat forced other tributes to speak to each other instead of solely relying on their district partners for communication. He quickly spotted the sign that read "District Twelve - M" and instantly looked over to see which bedrooms were going to be his neighbors. On the left was "District Four - F" and on the right was District Two - M." Ryver and Cato.

A gulp welled up in the back of his throat at the thought.

He knew that the Careers were going to be bustling down the hallway at some point to retreat to their bedrooms and he was by no means interested in getting caught up in another conversation. His body ducked into his bedroom and turned around to lock the door but found no lock. Another sigh heaved within his chest and he closed his eyes to calm down. Although he wasn't necessarily enemies with anyone quite yet aside from Marvel - who was going to be "busy" that night - it definitely wasn't comforting to not be able to lock his door.

As if on queue a round of laughter boomed down the hallway as Peeta sat down on the edge of his bed. Even through the walls he could hear the kids mumbling over their room arrangements until doors finally started to open and close. The boy reclined in his bed, which was oddly comfortable, until a loud thud shuddered against his wall. It nearly made him jump until he realized what the source of the noise was: Glimmer's high-pitched laugh could be heard from the room next to him.

His temper was growing hotter and hotter until he finally threw off his clothing for the day and changed into pajama bottoms and a t-shirt provided from within the dresser next to his bed. The boy walked back and ducked underneath the covers and attempted to use the pillow as earmuffs to block the noise but Glimmer's giggling soon turned into moans. Peeta knew that sleep wasn't going to come early for him because of his anger, the impending Arena, and the noises from next door.

Miraculously sleep finally took a hold of him… but not after being forced to listen to the session next door in its fullest.


End file.
